Many fans have touted Petratos as a potential smoky for the Socceroos’ World Cup squad along with Riley McGree, Daniel Arzani, Daniel De Silva and Josh Brillante.

Newcastle currently sit second on the table going into their game against Melbourne Victory this weekend, as Petratos returns after missing last week’s 2-2 draw with Melbourne City due to his wife giving birth.

Ugarkovic said he was backing Petratos should he be called up to a national team camp.

“I enjoy playing with Dimi every week, his football knowledge shows he’s a good, smart footballer,” Ugarkovic told FourFourTwo.

“I think that helps on the field and you can see he’s smart with the ball and is technically gifted. If he has to step up for the Socceroos, I think he’s capable of doing that.

“I know a lot of players in our team, there’s a dream to play in a World Cup, but it’s not really spoken of to each other. I know personally people do hold that highly, if the opportunity comes for players from our team to step up, I’m sure everyone is capable of doing it.”

Ugarkovic was the hero for Newcastle last week after clearing Ross McCormack’s chip shot off the line in the dying seconds to earn a point.

“That was really my first clearance off the line, it was a good moment to do it,” he said.

"It was definitely a moment in my career I’ll remember. It was a last minute save and I’m just happy to help the team out, and put my body on the line."

The Jets will be missing Daniel Georgievski for the Victory clash, but a big boost with Roy O’Donovan included in the squad.

Ugarkovic is also refusing to believe table-topping Sydney FC has an unassailable lead, despite being nine points from Newcastle.

Coach Ernie Merrick said last week they were unlikely to catch the Sky Blues, however, Ugarkovic believes the Asian Champions League could play in Newcastle’s favour.

“With a big schedule coming up, there are chances where they could drop points and we capitalise on that,” Ugarkovic said.

“They’re a great side and playing well this year. They’re backing it up from last year, as we’ve shown, we can match them on the day.

"In the end, it could come down to that. We still have to play them once more, so we’re just looking at keeping our position in the top four.

“If you keep looking at the table and say ‘we have to win this week’, it adds more pressure individually and as a team, so we try not to do that. We just focus on the job at hand and perform on the weekend.”